System and method for providing video on demand over a quadrature amplitude modulation network

Abstract

A system for providing video on demand over a quadrature amplitude modulation network (QAMN) having a television set (TV) connected thereon, comprising a client component associated with the TV, the client component being configured to be connected between the TV and the QAMN to receive input from a user of the TV and transmit the user input over the QAMN, a controller being configured to be connected to the QAMN to receive the user input transmitted over the QAMN by the client component, a management server being configured to be connected to the controller, decode the user input and provide a new interactive user session state to a rendering server, the rendering server being configured to encode a graphical representation of the new interactive user session state in a video format and transmit the encoded graphical representation on the QAMN.

1 . A system for providing video on demand over a quadrature amplitude modulation network having at least one television set connected thereon, comprising:
 at least one client component associated with the at least one television set, the at least one client component being so configured so as to be connected between the television set and the quadrature amplitude modulation network to receive input from a user of the at least one television set and transmit the user input over the quadrature amplitude modulation network;   a controller being so configured so as to be connected to the quadrature amplitude modulation network to receive the user input transmitted over the quadrature amplitude modulation network by the client component;   a management server being so configured so as to be connected to the controller, decode the user input and provide a new interactive user session state to a rendering server;   the rendering server being so configured so as to encode a graphical representation of the new interactive user session state in a video format and transmit the encoded graphical representation of the new interactive user session state on the quadrature amplitude modulation network.   
     
     
         2 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the management server being further so configured so as to:
 identify the client component transmitting the user input;   associate the user input with an interactive user session;   transition from a current interactive user session state of the interactive user session to the new interactive user session state for the transmitting client component based on the decoded user input;   represent the new interactive user session state using a markup language;   provide the markup language representation of the new interactive user session state to a rendering server.   
     
     
         3 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the rendering server generates the graphical representation of the new interactive user session state by parsing the markup language representation of the new interactive user session state to provide the graphical representation of the new interactive user session state. 
     
     
         4 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the management server is being further so configured so as to:
 select a transmission channel;   transmit switching instructions to the client component based on the selected transmission channel;   provide the selected transmission channel to the rendering server;   
       wherein the rendering server transmits the encoded graphical representation of the new interactive user session state on the quadrature amplitude modulation network using the selected transmission channel and wherein the client component causes the at least one television set to switch to the selected transmission channel. 
     
     
         5 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 3 , wherein the management server selects the transmission channel from a map of all channels used by currently active interactive user sessions. 
     
     
         6 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 3 , wherein the management server selects the transmission channel by querying the rendering server for available channels. 
     
     
         7 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the client component transmits and the controller receives the user inputs following a modulation protocol. 
     
     
         8 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 7 , wherein modulation protocol is selected from a group consisting of amplitude-shift keying, frequency-shift keying and phase-shift keying. 
     
     
         9 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 7 , wherein the modulation protocol uses frequencies outside of reserved frequencies. 
     
     
         10 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the user input is selected from a group consisting of a key and sequence of keys. 
     
     
         11 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the quadrature amplitude modulation network is a coaxial cable network. 
     
     
         12 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the management server is being further so configured so as to provide a movie selection to the rendering server and wherein the rendering server is being further so configured so as to transmit the selected movie on the quadrature amplitude modulation network. 
     
     
         13 . A system for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 12 , wherein the management server is being further so configured so as to:
 select a transmission channel;   transmit switching instructions to the client based on the selected transmission channel;   provide the selected transmission channel to the rendering server;   
       wherein the rendering server transmits the selected movie on the quadrature amplitude modulation network using the selected transmission channel and wherein the client component causes the at least one television set to switch to the selected transmission channel. 
     
     
         13 . A method of providing video on demand over a quadrature amplitude modulation network having at least one television set connected thereon, comprising the steps of:
 acquiring input from a user;   transmitting the user input from a first location over the quadrature amplitude modulation network;   receiving the user input at a second location from the quadrature amplitude modulation network;   decoding the user input and generate a new interactive user session state;   encoding a graphical representation of the new interactive user session state in a video format; and   transmitting the encoded graphical representation of the new interactive user session state on the quadrature amplitude modulation network.   
     
     
         14 . A method for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 13 , further comprising the steps of:
 identifying the first location;   associating the user input with an interactive user session;   transitioning from a current interactive user session state of the interactive user session to the new interactive user session state for the first location based on the decoded user input;   representing the new interactive user session state using a markup language;   parsing the markup language representation of the new interactive user session state to provide the graphical representation of the new interactive user session state.   
     
     
         15 . A method for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 13 , further comprising the steps of:
 selecting a transmission channel;   transmitting switching instructions to the first location based on the selected transmission channel;   
       wherein the rendering server transmits the encoded graphical representation of the new interactive user session state is transmitted on the quadrature amplitude modulation network using the selected transmission channel and wherein the at least one television set is switched to the selected transmission channel. 
     
     
         16 . A method for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 13 , wherein the user inputs are transmitted over the quadrature amplitude modulation network following a modulation protocol. 
     
     
         17 . A method for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 16 , wherein modulation protocol is selected from a group consisting of amplitude-shift keying, frequency-shift keying and phase-shift keying. 
     
     
         18 . A method for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 16 , wherein the modulation protocol uses frequencies outside of reserved frequencies. 
     
     
         19 . A method for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 13 , wherein the user input is selected from a group consisting of a key and sequence of keys. 
     
     
         20 . A method for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 13 , wherein the quadrature amplitude modulation network is a coaxial cable network. 
     
     
         21 . A method for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 13 , further comprising the steps of selecting a movie and transmitting the selected movie on the quadrature amplitude modulation network. 
     
     
         22 . A method for providing video on demand in accordance with  claim 21 , further comprising the steps of
 selecting a transmission channel;   transmitting the selected movie on the quadrature amplitude modulation network using the selected transmission channel   switching the at least one television set to the selected transmission channel.